Given a Glimpse
by AZ1087653
Summary: This is my sequel to that great movie Minutemen. It needs and deserves a sequel. Virgil gets a chance to see what would have happened had he chosen not to help Charlie on that fateful day; or at least one possible outcome.
1. Chapter 1

I just saw this movie, Minutemen, because my niece is in love with Jason Dolley. This is the type of movie I would have loved as a kid, and still do. I thought it needed a sequel though. Here is my take.

I don't own anything, including a car, so don't sue. AU in part.

Given a Glimpse

A lot of people consider life to be linear, you can't go back and forth between two points, you can't change it and most of all you don't get to see what it would have been like if you had chosen a different path. For Virgil, that wasn't quite true. He did get to jump back and forth and change things. He did find that it was better to stick with the life you were in because changing the hand you had been dealt was almost like cheating. Yourself, that is.

Of course that didn't stop curiosity. Once you've been given that first taste of something you like it's hard not to think about it from time to time and wonder what may have been. Everyone feels, at one point, the desire to see how life would have been. Everyone.

Of course there are very few people who actually get that chance and something major has to occur in order for that alternate timeline to merge with our own. Something like a black hole…maybe.

/GG/

"Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

The shout sounded distant at first; then became clearer and clearer as Virgil was roused from a deep sleep. He sat up quickly as his eyes attempted to adjust to the bright light that was now shooting pain through his eyes.

"Nice Amy." Virgil said looking at his alarm clock. It was just before eight; on a Saturday. "It's the weekend, what do you want?"

Virgil rolled his eyes at his little sister, trying to remember the dream he was woken from. Something about him and a couple of other kids from school using a time machine and changing peoples' lives. It would have been interesting to finish the dream, especially since he didn't really know the other two who were in the dream with him all that well. They were losers and outcasts. Virgil Fox was the popular, zany friend of the head cheerleader and star of the high school football team, not a nerd.

"Derek is here. He says you promised to help him with his calculus or something."

"Not at eight in the morning." Virgil said, raising his voice so his friend could most certainly hear his discourse.

"Not my fault." Amy said skipping out of the room. "By the way, I love your friends. Derek is a dreamboat."

Virgil jumped up and shut the door, hard. Then went searching for a pair of jeans and a shirt from the bottom of his closet. There would be no going back to sleep now, especially with Amy pestering Derek. Virgil looked in the mirror and studied his face. He popped a zit and walked to the bathroom to clean the puss off before going down stairs.

As he studied himself in the bathroom mirror he caught a flash of what he assumed was his dream. It was him, looking in the mirror, with slightly longer hair. He was looking for facial hair on his chin. Virgil shook his head and the 'memory' went away and it was he looking at himself, just as he was supposed to be doing.

"Man Virg, you've got to stop eating right before bed. Those dreams just keep getting weirder and weirder."

He left the bathroom and bounded down the stairs. Derek was playing guitar hero with Amy, who was clearly kicking his butt.

"I'm beating you! I'm beating you!" She said, jumping around like a spoiled brat.

"Enough Amy." Virgil said, grabbing her by the arm and pushing her back toward the stairs. "Go away. I mean it."

Amy walked up the stairs, pouting.

"Harsh man." Derek said, putting the guitar down and turning off the television. "You should be glad you have a little sister."

"Don't remind me. What are you doing over here at eight in the morning?" Virgil asked as he plopped himself down on the sofa and started to dig into a bag of chips he had left there just a few hours ago.

"Needed you help man. My dad is starting to come down on me hard and you're the smartest person I know."

Virgil rolled his eyes again, something he was getting good at.

"I already told you I would help you, but at eight in the morning? Come on. I'm not even up this early on school days."

Another vision flashed in front of Virgil's eyes as he saw himself showing up to school on time yesterday.

"Am I?" He asked in a wondering tone.

"Uh Virgil?" Derek asked while waving his hand in front of Virgil's blank stare.

Virgil looked at Derek for a moment. "Did I show up for school on time yesterday?"

"No, in fact you didn't show up at all. That's why you weren't allowed to come to the dance with Steph and me."

"Right." Virgil said nodding his head. He had cut school to go to the store. For something.

"Dude, you're creeping me out."

"Sorry. Something's bothering me. Like, this isn't how it's supposed to be." For a moment Virgil changed into the Virgil he was in his dream. The brazen stare disappeared and was replaced by the soft, almost lost eyes he'd seen in the mirror a little earlier.

"Whatever, are you going to come over and help me nor not?"

"Sure." Virgil popped back up and his demeanor changed back into that of which he was used to. Someone who everyone looked up on since he was popular and they were not.

/GG/

The ride to Derek's house was loud. Mainly because he had his music cranked up so much his giant truck bounced along the road as opposed to driving along. Virgil actually had a head ache when he stepped out and walked around the back of the truck, shaking it off. He saw Derek's neighbor hanging onto the branch of a tree, reaching for a cat.

For a moment his heart stood still as he watched the branch sway and Charlie fell a few feet and landed on his back; the cat jumped off and ran toward the house hissing his contempt.

"Nice move loser." Derek laughed.

"Charlie!" Virgil shouted, running toward him and landing on his knees next to the wide eyed youth. "Are you okay?" Virgil held out an arm for Charlie to take and stand up with.

"Um…yeah?" There was a moment of silence, uncomfortable silence. "Thanks…Virgil."

Charlie took the arm and sat up, then stood up and took a few steps back.

"Relax Charlie. It's…" Virgil stopped mid sentence and looked from Charlie to Derek who had stopped laughing and had gone silent too. "What just happened?"

Derek started to laugh again and walked toward Virgil and slapped him on the back. "You've moved into the realm of weird, or…you've decided to help one nerd a day. I'm touched. Let's go so we can get this over with." Derek said grabbing Virgil by the shoulder and leading him toward his house. "Joc is coming over for a quick make out session and then Steph and I have a date."

Virgil wasn't paying attention, he was looking at a very confused Charlie as he walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

True to his word, Jocelyn did end up coming over and Derek ended up kicking Virgil out so he could do whatever it was he did with the girl. Virgil didn't know why this time he was rather disgusted by the display. He had known for months, almost a year that Derek was seeing Joc behind Stephanie's back. This time when he walked out of the house he almost wanted to go to Stephanie and tell her. There were latent feeling he had for her, but he never acted since he had given the two his blessing years ago. It wasn't right to go behind your friends' backs, then again.

Virgil looked over at Charlie's house for a moment and found himself walking toward the door. For some reason he felt as if he should be there rather then with Derek. Almost as if that dream was the reality he belonged in and not this one.

Wait a minute. Reality? Where was this coming from? Yeah, he had been known to dabble in the science fiction arts, but not to the point where he actually believed in any of it. He was the one who didn't need school. Okay, take that back. He did need school. He was just an average student, nothing stellar, but he didn't want to be at school. It was a waste of eight hours of the day. Or was it?

He had always liked going to school before. He showed up on time, participated in class. What had caused him to change his outlook?

Virgil was in thought as he reached up to knock and felt nothing but air. He looked down and Charlie was standing in the door with a surprised look on his face.

"Yeah?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, sorry…I don't know why I'm here." Virgil said backing away. He took off across the lawn and toward the bus stop. He needed to get home and sleep. Obviously something was going on that he didn't quite understand.

He didn't even glance back this time. He knew Charlie probably thought either he was sick or losing it. Neither sounded like a good option.

Sleep, that was all he needed. Amy woke him up to early and he didn't get enough sleep. Virgil thought about searching for one of his parent's ambien and sleeping the rest of the day. That way all this madness would go away.

He was Virgil, popular funny guy. Wasn't he?

/GG/

Sleep came easy and the next thing he knew it was Monday morning, about four AM. It was nice, his parents letting him sleep. Then he remembered, they went over to visit his grandparents so they probably went to church and left without even realizing he had slept for the better part of the weekend. Oh well, he wasn't thinking about the dreams or being someone other than the one who was looking back at him from the mirror, so problem solved.

Virgil walked downstairs and raided the refrigerator for something, anything. He felt like he hadn't eaten in a week. He grabbed a chicken leg out of the fridge and walked over toward the television. There had to be something on somewhere.

He found an episode of 'Star Trek' called 'Mirror, Mirror'. Then he flipped to an episode of 'Stargate Sg1' called 'Ripple Effect'. After that he flipped to the movie channels and found the movie "Scrooged'. Had he actually been paying attention he might have found that to be too much of a coincidence not to look deeper into the meaning. As it was, he was too hungry to notice, so he watched the movie till school started.

It was like any other day, except he actually showed up for school on time. Something he hadn't accomplished for almost two weeks. It felt right. He smiled at everyone as he entered into the building and walked toward his first class. A couple of his classmates gave him the thumbs up for showing up on time and a few girls came forward and walked with him a short distance. He liked the attention.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone pass in the same direction he and his posse were traveling. He recognized the build and ran after him.

"Zeke! Wait up man." He said as he caught up.

Zeke looked at him with raised eyes. "Who are you and what do you want?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"It's me…Virgil." Virgil noticed Zeke didn't recognize him. "We're fri…" He then noticed everyone in the hallway was watching the scene play out. "Ends?"

"In what universe?" Zeke asked walking away and shaking his head.

For a moment Virgil didn't know what happened. It was like he was being pulled in two directions. Zeke was his friend. He knew that deep down, so why did the guy act as if he didn't have a clue who he was?

"Virgil?"

He turned around and looked at Stephanie and Derek; eyes wide as saucers.

"What's going on with you Virg, you've been acting strange for a few days? You get slammed on the head or something?" Derek asked without a hit of concern.

"I don't know." Virgil said softly. "Wait a minute."

Virgil walked away. Everyone in the hallway watched as he pushed his way through the crowd and grabbed poor Eugene by the collar and pulled him back toward Derek.

"I believe you owe us something." He said, crossing his arms over his chest and staring the cowering Eugene down.

"I'm s-s-sorry Virgil. I didn't b-bring it." Eugene stammered.

Virgil eyed the rest of the student body. It was time to live up to his little coven's name. He grabbed Eugene by the collar and with Derek's help, hoisted him over his head and placed him into the organic waste bin. He knew that the kids that ate breakfast threw their excess organics in there, but a bunch of people tended to either spit or vomit in there too if the mood was right.

There was a definite squishing sound as Eugene's head touched bottom and Virgil felt a sense of accomplishment as the jocks and stoners patted him on the back in congratulations. Even Stephanie was smiling, though she was doing an awfully good job of keeping the smile down to a minimum.

Eugene had borrowed some money from both Virgil and Derek during one of Virgil's loan shark mistakes. He was supposed to bring it back on Friday, but Virgil wasn't there. He was going to have to start charging more interest.

"Now Eugene, don't make me think it was a mistake in giving you that money." Virgil said, leaning toward the can and crinkling his nose. It had the most disgusting smell.

"Hey…a…Virg." Derek whispered. "Just so you know, there's Doug McClain's vomit in there along with dog poop Tolkan picked up from the sidewalk today."

Virgil stood up and looked at Derek with a grin on his face. "That is bad." He started to snicker. "Now, turd head, bring my money tomorrow or I'm gonna do this again."

There was a round of applause and cheers from the outer students. Mainly because they didn't want to be next on Virgil's rampage. So it goes.

Just as he was about to leave though, Eugene stood up and pulled his slime covered face out of the can. Virgil got another flash and all but passed out at what he had just done.

"Oh my word!" He said leaving his pack and making his way back to poor Eugene. "Eugene, I am so sorry."

If Virgil hadn't been the one to just push Eugene into the can everyone would have thought for a moment he was actually serious.

"Yeah, let me fix it for you." Brett said, sneezing into a tissue and then sticking it into Eugene's mouth.

"Cut it out Brett." Virgil snarled and put a hand on Eugene's shoulder, touching the slime as he went.

The smell was pungent and it made Eugene vomit down the front of himself and onto the floor.

"Ewww." Chorused a bunch of people as Virgil rubbed Eugene's back, getting himself dirty in the process.

"Come on Gene, let's get you cleaned off." Virgil said, trying to lead Eugene away.

"No." He said, pulling his arm free. "Why would I want the help of someone who doesn't care about anyone but himself?"

Eugene ran off, leaving a confused Virgil in his wake.

"What…just…happened?" Virgil asked himself. "Ohhh." He spit, looking at his covered hand. He ran out of the front door and raced toward the pool. He didn't care that the school would have to drain it, he wasn't going to let himself stay like that for the rest of the day.


	3. Chapter 3

Only two days. That was how long his suspension was going to last for dumping Eugene into the organic waste box and turning the pool into his own personal bath. Honestly though, who wouldn't use the chlorine to clean all that shi…stuff off his arms. That stuff was powerful enough to clean urea that was probably in there from some punk and of course the other unmentionables that people had on them.

That was a good thing, but getting suspended also cause him to get grounded and he now had to do community service for his father. Who knew that a father could get a judge to require community service? People didn't get community service when they jumped into a pool with gunk on, they got suspended.

Virgil had to be the one to clean the pool out.

They had spent a day draining the pool and on the second day of his suspension Virgil found himself on the bottom of the pool with a tiny brush and some disinfectant. He had to scrub every inch of the pool with the cleaning agent and then again with soap before they were going to fill it again.

Unfortunately that was going to take a while. It was an Olympic sized pool.

Virgil sat there with the brush and scrubbed the area next to the drain. It had a slimy substance on it that reminded him of mildew. It didn't want to come off, which was starting to get on his nerves. He scrubbed harder and ended up sliding his knuckles on the bottom of the pool and cutting his fingers.

"Darn it!" He shouted, throwing the brush away.

"That's there because the school doesn't put enough chlorine in the pool."

Virgil looked up and saw Charlie standing on the diving board above his head.

"Oh, hey Charlie. How's it going?" He asked like he was talking to his best friend.

"I'm just trying to figure you out. It's almost like you're starting to grow a conscious or something and it fascinates me."

Charlie sat down and let his legs dangle from the board.

"You know you should be careful. I've seen your track record with heights." Virgil said as he realized there was something odd. This wasn't just about sleep, this was something more.

"I know, but no one will think to look for me on the diving board while the pool is empty, especially with you hanging around. I wanted to ask you some questions."

For a moment Virgil wanted to say no, but his moment was fleeting and he agreed.

"I'll answer questions if you get down from there."

"Deal." Charlie said, standing up and walking slowly toward the sidewalk. Unfortunately he found himself slipping on some water and tumbled into the pool.

Virgil didn't waste a second. He flung himself under the smaller boy and absorbed the blow the kid would have gotten if he had landed on the bottom. He let out a gasp as the pain of broken ribs seared through his body and a bump on the back of the head started to swell.

"Oh crap!' Charlie shrieked. "I am so sorry Virgil." He pulled out his cell and called the hospital.

"It's okay Charlie. What are friends for?" Virgil said before he blacked out.

/GG/

"Ummmm." Virgil said softly as he felt the bed against his back. He must have been home. What was that sound?

Virgil opened his eyes and saw that he wasn't at home, he was in the hospital. This caused him to sit up and pull the heart monitor off his chest. A loud wailing sound emitted from a machine next to his bed and in ran a couple of nurses.

"What?" Virgil asked as he was pushed back down and the monitor wires attached again.

One of the nurses started taking his stats while the other left the room. He was powerless and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Virgil?" He heard his mom as she rushed into the room and grabbed him into a hug. "Oh sweetie, don't scare us like that again."

"I'm sorry?" Virgil said, gasping in pain.

"Sorry honey, we told them to keep you off the pain medications until you were awake."

Tears started to form in Virgil's eyes as he felt the pain that encompassed his entire body. "Mom, get me the pain medications."

"Okay."

She moved out of the way as the doctor started to feed him some morphine through his IV drip. The pain was gone in a matter of minutes and soon Virgil was riding the high. He wasn't tired though, so he stayed sitting up and hit on the various nurses, both male and female, who came into his room.

Then his body became used to the meds and he was starting to feel normal again, though he kind of missed the feeling of the high he had gotten. He was glad it had gone though when Charlie walked into the room, nervously.

"Hi Virgil." He said sheepishly from the doorway.

Virgil's face lit up and he smiled. "It's okay. I'm glad you're alright."

Wait a minute, he should be furious. The only reason he was in this mess was that little punk had fallen on him. No, that wasn't quite true. Had he not helped him the other day or pushed Eugene into that muck this probably wouldn't have happened either.

"I'm glad you're alright." Charlie said walking further into the room. He had his arm in a sling. "I dislocated my shoulder. You saved me."

Virgil smiled again. "You would have done the same for me."

Charlie didn't smile. "That's where you're wrong though. You and I aren't and have never been friends. At least not that I remember, and I remember everything. I honestly doubt I would have done for you what you did for me."

Virgil frowned as he realized Charlie was right. In what freaky reality would he normally have jumped up to help anyone, especially someone like Charlie?

"I don't know what's going on." He finally stated. "I've been having these weird dreams, about you, me and Zeke. How we were all really good friends and were helping the nerds escape embarrassment."

Charlie's eyes shot open. "Really? That would have been a great life to live, don't you think?"

"I do and for some reason, I know that I belong there, not here. What I did, who I am, is really mean and I don't like it. It's like my conscious has returned from an extended vacation. I wonder when it went away?"

"Probably around the time you helped those jocks hang me from the statue. I used to see you and Derek when I was younger and I always wanted to come play with you, but then when we went into high school you were so mean I stayed away."

"I am really sorry about that. I have no idea where Derek got that lip stick from either. That was just plain weird."

Virgil looked at the younger man for a moment and sighed. His mind was showing him times he had spent with both Charlie and Zeke that were definitely not something he remembered, but he really wanted to.

"We were calling ourselves the minutemen and we used this time travel machine you invented to travel into time and change the bad things that happened to all the losers…sorry, the less fortunate."

There wasn't a sound in the room for a moment and Virgil looked at Charlie.

"How did you know about the time machine?"

For a moment Virgil was sitting across from the Charlie in his dreams. The one who had been his friend for three years. Charlie was telling him about the side effects of the machine and Virgil listened, though he didn't want to believe.

"You haven't tried it yet have you?" Virgil asked grabbing Charlie by the shoulders.

"No. It's just in the planning stages right now."

"Throw them away and shred all that stuff you got from NASA." Virgil said shaking him.

"I will…" Charlie said with minor shock. "Wait, how did you know about NASA and why should I throw them away?"

Virgil closed his mind for a moment trying to remember what exactly had happened because of the time travel. A black hole. Random but none the less real. They had jumped into it.

"I can't tell you how I know about NASA without sounding totally loopy, but that machine ended up creating a black hole somewhere where I was your friend. I was strung up with you that day…"

Virgil stopped for a moment and paused. He remembered feeling the desire to know what it would have been like had he chosen to ignore the football players picking on Charlie. In fact he wanted to change it. This would have been the outcome and so far who he had become was unacceptable. He had to change.


	4. Chapter 4

Virgil made a pact with himself. One that he hoped would make this strange reality go away. He was going to become who he was supposed to be, not who he became. Charlie, for his part, actually welcomed the change. It happened before Virgil was even supposed to leave the hospital. Virgil had asked that he and Charlie get to share a room, even though Charlie was more then well enough to go home.

That first evening he told Charlie all about his dreams and what they meant. It was strange, but he felt more at home with the kid then with any of his so called friends, who hadn't even bothered to come by for a visit.

Charlie, being the one into the whole science fiction genre had a hypothesis.

"Maybe." He said while the two of them were trying to eat the awful breakfast that next morning. "Maybe you have been given a glimpse into the other Virgil's life as a way to change you own. Like Scrooge had been given. You are seeing what could have been so you can change into someone more likeable."

"I don't know. This feels so right, the two of us. Well almost right. We're still missing Zeke."

"That's actually a scary concept Virg. He's rather foreboding."

"He is, but he's just waiting for someone else to make the first move. I think he's kind of shy."

Charlie chuckled. "You're kidding. Someone as creepy as him is shy."

Virgil tossed his spoon onto the tray and looked at Charlie. "Maybe he's shy because people think he's creepy."

Charlie pondered this for a moment. "Maybe you're right. What do you want to do about it though? It's not as if we're friends with him or anything."

"Well in this other 'reality' we just approached him, I think."

Yes, they had approached him. He missed the talks he and Zeke had when Charlie was off on some sort of scientific tangent that had absolutely nothing to do with what they wanted to talk about. How was it that this dream felt so real? It was almost as if he should be there rather than here. This reality wasn't where he belonged; he was just a visitor or something in some weird 'Twilight Zone' type of occurrence.

"You believe in alternate realities right." Virgil asked and continued without letting Charlie answer. "Do you think I'm here just because I wanted to know what it would have been like had I not jumped in and tried to save you, like I'm being given a glimpse?"

"That is so cool." Charlie said, jumping off the bed and knocking his tray off the table. "We should totally check into that."

"I think I should make amends first. Starting with Zeke and then to everyone else, especially Eugene."

"Right, then can we study this other reality? I promise not to try to create that black hole you told me about."

"Do you see though? How easily we jumped into being friends?"

Charlie stopped pacing for a moment and looked at Virgil.

"You know, you're right. This is a little on the strange side. Just a minute."

Charlie left the room and disappeared from view. Virgil tried to get up and move, but he was attached to so many wires he ended up pulling something off and causing the machines to blare again. He put his hands to his head and because of the tinnitus. Over to the side, in his peripheral vision he saw the black hole coming at him and trying to swallow him up, causing him to jump back and land into the lap of a nurse, who took him down with her.

The two fell into an unceremonious pile on the floor.

"Are you okay kid?" The nurse asked, pulling herself off the floor and helping Virgil onto his feet.

"I think so, but my eyes are playing things on me."

"Well be a little more careful. We don't want something happening to you."

Virgil just nodded and got back into the bed, forgetting he was in that fabulous hospital gown, so he flashed the nurse and Stephanie his hind end.

"Cute, I haven't seen your bum since we were kids."

Virgil went from red to purple in a matter of seconds when he realized what he had done. Stupid hospital gowns. He couldn't even speak.

"Relax Virg, it's not like I got a picture of it and even if I did, I probably wouldn't show it to anyone."

"Uh thanks Steph." Virgil finally said.

"I heard what happened from Derek. He finally told me today when you didn't show up for class. I cut history to come visit you."

"I think I'm turning you over to the dark side Steph, you don't skip class."

Stephanie came into the room and sat on the edge of his bed.

"I do when my best friend gets hurt and ends up in the hospital. I'm so mad he didn't say anything to me yesterday when he knew. Did he come see you last night?"

Virgil lowered his eyes and looked at his hands. "Not that I know of. I don't think anyone but Charlie came to see me."

"Charlie? The kid who fell on you?"

"No, I caught him so he wouldn't get hurt. He fell off the diving board."

For a moment he thought Stephanie was going to explode. She looked ready to pass out on his bed.

"Really, you jumped to save someone from killing themselves." Virgil nodded. "I don't know what's happened to you Virg…but I like it." She smiled at him.

"Really?" Virgil smiled back.

"Well yeah. I've never really liked how you treat everyone and how Derek and his gang of jocks follow you around doing the same thing. It's almost like Hitler the way you have them trained. It scares me."

Virgil's eyes shot up and his breathing stopped. "Please don't think that. Don't think of me as Hitler incarnate. I'm never going to do that again. This isn't me; I don't know who it is."

Stephanie took his hand in hers and brought it to her chest. "I really want to believe you, but people don't just change overnight, especially into someone who is completely opposite who they've been for years. I almost wish you were like Charlie rather then who I call my friend."

What should have been a tender moment was ruined when Charlie walked back into the room carrying a computer.

"I've been looking some things up Virgil." He said without even noticing Stephanie was in the room. "Some members of the scientific community believe that a worm hole has the power to transfer a person from one reality to another. Maybe when you went through that wormhole part of the you from that reality did end up jumping across the expanse and ended up here. The problem is though, if you ended up here, who ended up where you belong, and if this is just some wacked up version of what's supposed to be true, maybe there's no way to fix this until some other cataclysmic event happens. So…" Charlie stopped mid thought when he noticed Stephanie in the room, looking at him with amusement.

"What's he talking about Virgil?"

"I'm not quite sure yet." Virgil said in amusement.

"I'm saying…" Charlie said as he hopped up on his bed, computer in hand. "I agree with you. You changed too fast for this to be naturally occurring. So I think a part of you got caught in some sort of temporal flux and you ended up on the other side of this decision. In other words, when you and I and Zeke went back in time to that day, part of you ended up left behind and then you were dormant until the two realities converged on the day this issue were to occur in both realities."

The blank stares this caused made Charlie roll his eyes.

"In other words, you are two people fighting over this body and we need to get you back to where you belong or one of you is going to die. I would rather have you here than our Virgil, but you don't belong here. There could be other repercussions and after your tale last night, I don't know that I want to see something like that happen here.

"So you're telling me I'm both the Virgil from here and there and I'm fighting for control, that's why I feel like this. Then how come you are so comfortable with me?"

"I don't know, but look at her. She's freaking out. If this was just some messed up version of you reality then she would also feel something. The only reason I'm not calling the National Enquirer and the nearest mental hospital is my mind is more open to accepting this type of explanation."

Stephanie remained silent as she listened.

"So what do we have to do?" Virgil asked.

"I think we're going to have to get the time machine up and working, create that worm hole and have you jump through. That sounds like the time when all of this occurred. You did say you felt different the day after the dance, right?"

"Yes?" The answer was rather drawn out.

"So we recreate the event. Since we know it's going to happen, we can keep better tabs on it." Charlie looked at Stephanie. "I don't know what we're going to do about you though. You don't look too good."

"I'm fine. " Stephanie said. "Just trying not to run away screaming."

"It's okay Steph. I'm still here." Virgil said touching her shoulder.

"You are, but I don't know who you are anymore."

"An old friend who needs your help." Virgil's eyes plead with his friend.

"But if we do this then the you you've become will leave. If I understood correctly."

"Yes, but do want to risk both Virgils." Charlie said.

"Relax Charlie. I'm gonna help."

Virgil breathed a deep sigh of relief and Charlie smiled.

"I guess that means all we need to do is get Jeanette and Zeke." Virgil said, completely forgetting that neither of them would want anything to do with him.


	5. Chapter 5

"You want me to what?"

The question came as no surprise to Virgil as he spoke to Zeke after trailing after him for the better part of an hour. When he was finally released from the hospital and had finished his pool, with the help of both Charlie and Stephanie, he was able to return to school.

His ribs still hurt like no other, but he worked through the pain. He wasn't about to let others know how lost he was at the time.

"We need your help, but you're going to have to trust us, which will probably be a little difficult." Virgil said, trying to keep in step with the guy.

"And give me one good reason why I should trust you? You're not a very nice person." Zeke deadpanned.

"No I'm not and that's going to change for at least now. I need your help and the only way to explain is for you to listen to me." Virgil almost got to his knees to beg. "Please, don't make me beg."

Zeke looked at the cowering form before him. "Only because I'm not like you. I don't do things like that to other people."

"Fair enough. I've only been here a week and I don't like me very much, so I can imagine no one else really likes me either."

"Okay…what?" Confusion laced every word.

"We'll explain later. Please just come to this room after last period." Virgil showed the map to the tallest member of the minutemen. Zeke nodded, then walked away so as not to be seen associating with the boy. He did have a reputation to uphold and it was a lot better to be considered a loner than a jerk.

Jeanette wasn't nearly as easy to convince. In fact the only way Virgil was able to corner her was following her into the girl's room where she was hiding in one of the stalls. Virgil figured out easily enough she wanted nothing to do with him, but he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Even if he turned back into his self in this reality, at least Charlie, Zeke, Steph and Jeanette could be friends.

"Listen Jeanette, I'm sorry for what I've done to you." Virgil said in a soft voice on the outer side of the stall. "I know I'm everyone's least favorite person and I accept that, but give Charlie, Stephanie and Zeke a chance. They're good people."

"You've never done anything to me. It's how you act toward others." Jeanette said bravely from inside the stall.

"I know I've been an inconsiderate jerk since I got here, but for the moment that has changed. I am not the person I was a week ago. I really need your help and I don't want to explain here since I already feel foolish talking to you through the door."

There was a brief pause before Jeanette spoke. "You're going to have to prove it Fox. I don't trust you."

Virgil turned around so his back was facing the door and slid to the floor with a plop. He prayed that no other girls came into the room as he was baring his soul, especially teachers.

"I have been having these dreams about me, Charlie, Zeke and you. We, us guys, have been using this time machine to travel back and save the less socially fortunate from being embarrassed to high heck. You are the one who monitors the machine while we're gone. It was going good till I got too full of myself. That and we created a black hole."

"Well this black hole was going to ruin the planet and most likely the galaxy so Charlie, Zeke and I went through it so we could stop it and we did. The next thing I know is waking up and being here. Charlie thinks that this dream is actually a reality and I am from this reality. Me and the Virgil you know and hate have been fighting over control of this body. I'm winning for the moment, but if I don't get back then something could happen to both of us."

"We want to make the time machine on this end, create the black hole and try to send me back. It means that I would probably go back to who I was before, but I don't belong here."

Virgil took a deep breath and sighed again. It was a lot easier to speak about it then he would have thought. Jeanette opened the door and Virgil fell back onto the dirty floor looking up at her.

"Hi." He said meekly.

"I don't think anyone could have made up a story like that so I'm gonna trust you for the moment."

"Really?" Virgil asked, not moving.

"Really."

"Any you Mr. Fox are really in trouble."

Virgil sat up and Jeanette looked out of the stall. Mrs. Flaverty was standing in the doorway with a frown on her face.

"Principal's office, now Fox." She said pointing toward the door.

"Sorry." He mouthed to a snickering Jeanette as he scurried out of the room and toward the principal.

What a day.

/GG/

Virgil let Charlie relay the story to Zeke rather then repeat it, though he did fill in the blanks about specific things he remembered from his dream. Zeke laughed a few times and scowled a few times. Jeanette wore a blank expression and Stephanie just looked like she wanted it to be over.

"So, when you get back to where you're going, we're going to be stuck with our Virgil again?" Zeke finally asked.

"Yes, but you'll have each other, so you can stick up for yourselves. You don't have to let him run your lives. It's like that old saying, one branch can be broken, but many branches that stick together can't be bent."

"I don't think that's how the saying goes, but I'll run with it for a moment. Tell us how we're supposed to create this black hole." Zeke said.

Charlie took this time to step in and speak.

"We need to create this time machine I've been thinking about for a while." He handed a copy of the plans to each of them, who in turn read through the information.

"I think this could work." Zeke said after he finished, which was quite a bit sooner than anyone else.

Virgil snickered.

"What?" Zeke asked. "I do know how to read."

This caused Virgil to all out laugh while everyone else gazed at him in amused confusion.

"What?" Zeke finally snapped.

"It's just…that's almost what you said when Charlie and I approached you last time."

"As far as I'm concerned, there hasn't been a last time. This is the only time and we're gonna need to do quite a bit of scavenging in order to find what we need." Zeke stood up and took charge. "We're gonna split up into three groups and head out to find all of this stuff Charlie has written down. I'll take the junk yard. Charlie and Jeanette you take the school. No one will question the two of you skulking around the building. Virgil, you and Stephanie are going to go into the stores and buy what we need. Use that money you collect from people, at least the money will go toward a good thing."

Virgil was floored. He didn't think he'd ever heard Zeke speak that much at one time before. It was almost like…he didn't know, but it was.

"Okay." Virgil said nodding. Everyone else in the group nodded too.

"Oh, by the way Virgil, you should probably lay low when coming back on campus. Getting suspended twice in a month is a good way to have the vice-principal on your tail."

"Don't I know it." Virgil stated.

/GG/

Going into stores was easy. Neither he nor Stephanie had to worry about being sneaky since the two of them walking into a store was a normal occurrence. He hoped the rest of the alternate minutemen were having an easy a time.

Stephanie was quiet as the two of them went about their business. Virgil was actually finding it hard to talk to her since this wasn't technically his Stephanie.

"Cat got your tongue."

"This seems rather surreal to me. I don't know if I can believe it's happening." She said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"I'm sorry to do this to you. I know we have always been friends. Actually, my Steph and I haven't been friends for over three years. I was a nerd and she was popular like you. We didn't even start hanging out again until recently. I envy Virgil here because he's been with you that entire time."

Virgil was silent and sad. It was sad to think that he had to become a jerk in order to have been friends with the love of his life for that missed time. It was a double edged sword and he didn't like either options.

"Look Virgil. We may have been friends, but not like we were in middle school. Sure, we hang out, but I never liked what you became. To me, you became a complete ass and I didn't want to hang out with you. The only reason I did was because I hoped that there was a glimmer of who you used to be underneath. I started to see it again and now I'm going to lose it and I don't want to."

Stephanie stopped walking and turned toward Virgil. He looked so much younger then he did less than two weeks ago, so much like he had when they were in grade school.

She didn't have a second thought about it. Stephanie pulled Virgil toward her and started to kiss him, only he didn't kiss her back.


	6. Chapter 6

The silence that ensued was deafening. Virgil wasn't able to speak and Stephanie did her best to keep from crying at his lack of kiss. He hadn't made a move as she tried to get him to follow. He just sat there like a lump on a log. Not the best way for a kiss to end.

As quickly as they could they purchased what they needed to from the store and headed back to the school. Not a word was spoken between the two. Virgil didn't know whether he wanted to cry or to slap himself.

His mind was telling him that to kiss this Stephanie would have been cheating on his back home. Even though she was technically the same person, she wasn't. She wasn't the one he had loved from afar. She was the one this Virgil loved and no matter how much of a jerk this Virgil was, he couldn't do that to him either.

What really got to him though was this was the first time they had kissed, outside of that kiss she had given him at his tenth birthday party. And it wasn't even with the right girl. He didn't know how many people would actually be able to fathom the thought, but she wasn't Stephanie.

Something that should have been a magical moment, for both of them, was riddled with the thought that he had cheated on his Stephanie and he didn't want to think about how this would affect both of them if and when he got back.

The room was silent when Virgil and Stephanie walked back inside. He had hoped someone, anyone, would be in the room waiting. Such was not the case and he felt the snakes squirming in his stomach again.

"I…" Stephanie began, then a minor squeak brought them out of the thought.

"Charlie?" Virgil asked as he watched Charlie and Jeanette come out from behind a bunch of boxes. "What's going on?" He saw the two of them were holding hands.

"Just a little experiment…to see if what you said about the two of us in the other reality is true."

Virgil's choked on air. Did Charlie just admit to having a make-out session with Jeanette while everyone else was out?

"If it makes you feel any better, we both agree there's something there." Jeanette said with a flutter in her voice.

Virgil started laughing at the prospect. It had taken two years for his Charlie to agree to even look at Jeanette without running off like the world was coming to an end. These two jumped in with both their clothes still on, no questions asked. Either they really believed him or there had been something there before. Probably a little bit of both.

/GG/

It took two days before they had everything on the list. Not something they expected, but at least Virgil was off cleaning duty. Not that the experience hadn't been humbling. A few of the jocks, including Derek, had decided to spray paint some lockers and dump trash cans all over the school. Kind of as a warning to Virgil not to wade too far into whatever pool he was swimming in or they'd come after him and he'd be up a creek.

There was nothing he could do about that though. He just wanted to lay low. That was the only way he could keep from getting into trouble and keeping his friends out of the mix. The jerks knew there was something up with him, but not who he was doing it with. There was no way he was going to let them suffer when he was finally back home.

He noticed Zeke, Jeanette and Charlie hanging out more often. It almost reminded him of how Stephanie, Derek and he had been all those years ago. Of course none of them were only going to be in it for the popularity, they were in it for the excitement. That was bound to keep them together.

Stephanie was another story. She still sat with him and Derek at lunch, probably more out of fear than anything else. She had lost that sparkle she used to have when they were younger. Something had made her lose her innocence years ago and Virgil didn't know if he wanted to know about it.

She ended up telling him while he was in the process of finishing removing the tagging off the lockers. They were going to meet after school to start with the jumping. Charlie had figured out how to create larger ripples so it would take less time to get the black hole. About four instead of almost a dozen. That would cut down on the time and everyone wanted to go through at least once. This would give everyone a chance to go through at least twice.

There was still no decision as to if more than Virgil would go through the black hole. No one wanted the reality jump to happen to them. What if they ended up somewhere where no one could or would help them? Virgil realized how lucky he was to have these friends instead of others.

"Derek has been cheating on me, you know." Stephanie said while Virgil removed the last tag from the freshman lockers.

"I did actually. I'm sorry." Virgil said. He was too. There was no way he would have handled it as well as she was.

"He tried to have his way with me one night and I told him no, so he went after Jocelyn since she's kind of easy."

The look on Stephanie's face was heartbreaking. Virgil didn't like to see her in such pain, but this was inevitable when cheating was concerned. He should have told her but he had a feeling she knew about Derek and also that Virgil was aware of the entire thing.

"He's a slime ball, a cheese head, you name it." Virgil said to her. "You deserve better then him. You deserve better then me too."

"I don't want someone other then you though." She whispered.

"I know, but you have less of a chance in getting hurt if you get out now and find someone else to be with. Charlie and Zeke are good guys. They'll be your friends without you having to give into them. Jeanette's the same. Give the three of them a chance. That way you have a posse when I'm gone. I don't know what I'll be like when this is over."

Virgil, for the first time, almost didn't want to go back. His Stephanie was so much stronger then this one. It was almost like this one needed him while his didn't. Empowering her was a better choice than making her rely on someone, but there might not be enough time to do that. At least if she became friends with Charlie and Zeke, she would have friends and not be left alone after all of this ended.

"I feel like I'm losing my best friend again." She said, crying. "I don't know that I can handle that."

Virgil stopped cleaning for a moment and wrapped her in a hug. "I know you don't want to, but if you start accepting my friends, then you'll have a chance to see about changing the me here. That way you'll have support. It's a lot easier to sway someone with many then with just one."

He stopped and thought for a moment, wondering when he became a sap. He'd probably always been one; like Derek said, he was always going to be a nerd. Derek was always going to be a jerk. Maybe it was the same here. He wanted to know the answer, but the only ones who would find that out were his friends.

Stephanie laughed for a moment before backing up and looking at Virgil. "I'll do what I can, but promise me that if my Virgil can hear me, he'll try to come back to me as he was before. Not as he is now. He scares people, and that scares me."

"Stephanie!"

Both Virgil and Stephanie looked down the hallway to see Derek walking toward them with a purpose.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh snap." Virgil said quietly.

He knew Derek wouldn't say anything to him, but to Stephanie that was another matter. He'd had residual memories of how Derek treated her in front of him. He didn't know if he could stand up to Derek here. He was even worse because he fed off Virgil and that fuel had been going on for so long there was no telling how it would react.

"Stephanie! We're supposed to be studying. What are you doing with Virgil?" Derek stopped in front of the two. "What are you crying for?" He turned to Virgil. "What's she been telling you?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just that she's worried about my fractures and all this work I have to do. She doesn't like to see me in pain."

It was such a convincing lie both Virgil and Stephanie believed it, so it was no wonder that Derek believed.

"Well…that'll teach you not to get caught stupid." He slapped Virgil on the back, making the healing ribs hurt again. Hell, they always hurt, but this was major pain. "Come on Steph, leave this moron to his cleaning. Maybe next time he won't be tempted to be so nice to dorks."

Derek grabbed Stephanie by the arm and pulled her down the hallway. She turned and gazed at Virgil as she walked away. At that moment, Virgil actually worried that something could happen to Stephanie. It was almost like his being there was causing Derek to act like more of a jerk and Stephanie was likely to be the recipient of the anger.

/GG/

Virgil finished cleaning and headed for anyone. He wanted to make sure they were willing to help Stephanie when he was gone. He ran into Zeke and for a moment thought about trying to get the tall guy to pursue Stephanie in a romantic way. Who better to trust with the one he couldn't have then one of the ones he trusted with his life? He decided to keep that a secret for the moment though; don't scare anyone and it mightn't work anyway.

"I'm not a baby sitter Virg." Zeke all but snapped.

Virgil took a step back, trying to put this in a way that didn't sound like he was desperate.

"I don't want you to baby sit her, or date her or anything. I just want you to make sure she doesn't go back with Derek or me when I'm gone." Virgil said. "That sounded strange." Zeke's expression was almost blank. "You know what I mean. She needs friends and I am a pretty convincing rat and Derek is just a bag of jerk. Just be her friend so she doesn't think she's alone."

"Whatever." Zeke said as he pushed the last of the equipment into the room they planned on jumping from.

It was the same room the minutemen had used in the other reality. Only in this one the room had been clean. Someone obviously used the room recently, but it seemed to be deserted for the moment. Virgil just hoped no one would come in on them while they were in the process of sending him home. Or come in on them after he was finally gone.

They were going to do it all in one fell swoop rather than do it over days at a time. This was much easier than dragging it out. If Virgil was here in this reality much longer, then there were bound to be some problems anyway. Better to stop it as soon as possible.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" Jeanette asked as she walked into the room with Charlie at her heals.

"It better." Virgil stated.

"Are we really that bad you want to get rid of us so soon?" Charlie asked.

"You know better than I that there's no telling what sort of crap might occur with me here rather than where I belong."

The words stung everyone and Virgil recoiled rather quickly. It was the truth though. The sooner it was over then the less likely the timeline would change too drastically.

They all knew it as they set to work putting together the machine that would in a short amount of time get Virgil back to where he belonged.

/GG/

Within three days the project had been complete. All five of the kids stood back to admire their handy work.

"That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life." Zeke finally said after a few moments of utter silence.

"Give us a break. We were rushed. From what Virgil told me we spend weeks on this when he made it the first time." Charlie said with a little bit of distain.

"Relax, both of you." Stephanie snapped. "Let's just see if this thing works. That way we can get Virgil back home."

Everyone in the room noticed her less than kind tone when saying that. In fact, she was mad. There was no question about her being extremely upset and doing this just because she felt she had to, not because she wanted to.

Virgil was heartbroken. He knew what he was doing to the girl, to all of them as a matter of fact. He was going to a better place and leaving all four of them to fend for themselves in the jungle. Truth be told, that was what they needed. In order to become a pack, they needed to work together and this was supposed to help them.

Still, hearing poor Stephanie's pain felt like a kick to the stomach. He eyed her as Charlie and Jeanette went to the computer to turn on the device. In that small moment he thought about staying, but that wouldn't be fair to any of them or him. Either of him. Sure, he was a pompous ass, but he was still a person and that person deserved to live.

"You don't have to say it. I know this is the right thing to do." Stephanie said as she walked over to Virgil and grabbed his hand.

She had tears in her eyes and Virgil reached over to wipe them away. He missed though as Zeke handed her a handkerchief.

"We're not going to leave you Stephanie." Zeke said softly.

Virgil wanted to smile at the same time he wanted to pummel the guy. He was encroaching on his territory, but then again, Virgil had asked him to. He was just doing what he said he would do. For a moment Virgil wondered if maybe Zeke and Stephanie might make it together.

"Okay, this doesn't look like its working." Charlie said in alarm. "In fact, I think we'd better get out of here."

The panic started to set in and Virgil watched as Charlie grabbed Jeanette's hand and pulled her out of the room. He also saw Zeke grab for Stephanie and the two of them leave the room too.

Time seemed to stand still and Virgil wasn't able to move. The lights started to flash in front of him, just like the machine had done dozens of times, only this time, he was in the event horizon and it was going to consume him.

The last thing he heard was someone shouting his name, then nothing.

/GG/

Virgil slowly opened his eyes.

"What day is it?" He asked.

That was followed by Zeke shouting, "That is it! No more time travel!"

Wait, what was going on? Didn't…

Virgil looked up and saw that all three of them were sitting in the grass on the field of the school. All of them in their suits.

He didn't even pay attention as Charlie spoke with the PE teacher, he was too lost in what had just happened. Hadn't he…..? Maybe it didn't….? Was it all a dream? He didn't know. It felt real, but so did Zeke as his friend helped him off the ground since he wasn't moving as the coach told them to start moving.

All of those people he had met and spent time with were no more and he was back where he belonged. It was a surreal feeling. Had he been given a glimpse of what could have happened? Or was it just his imagination?


End file.
